Leaders seek ‘roots’ of Iranian protests
Hard-line rhetoric spurs parliament to hold special session
TEHRAN, Iran — The Iranian parliament will hold a special session as soon as Sunday to look into the causes of antigovernment protests that have gripped the country, state-run news agencies said.
The interior minister, the head of intelligence and the security council chief are all expected to attend, the ISNA news agency said.
Hard-liners in Iran have blamed foreign conspirators for the demonstrations, a sentiment echoed by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his reformers, though admitting that not all the demonstrations could be steered from the outside by “Iran’s enemies.”
Hence the parliament’s desire to find “the roots” of the protest.
‘There should be no mercy’
A special commission has also been set up to track the fates of those arrested in recent demonstrations, especially those of detained students, a spokesman for Tehran University said Saturday, according to ISNA. Jailed demonstrators also will receive legal assistance.
While there are no official numbers regarding how many people have been arrested over the past week during anti-government protests that have swept the country, an estimated 1,000 to 1,800 people are being detained nationwide, with about 100 of them said to be students.
Science Minister Mansour Gholami said that about a quarter of the students arrested have since been released, though he did not give exact numbers. The ministry is working to obtain the release of all students, Gholami told the online news portal Etemaadonline.
The fate of those arrested has been the topic of serious concern since Iranian hard-line cleric Ahmad Khatami urged worshippers in a sermon Friday to treat protesters as enemies of Islam, adding that “there should be no mercy for them,” particularly flag-burners.
Criticism for the U.S.
The sentiments of Khatami and other government supporters were heavily criticized by Rouhani and his reformists in the parliament. Rouhani adviser Hamid Abutalebi said some decisions were dangerous and could “not be repaired so easily.”
Posts on social media on Saturday supposedly showed demonstrations across the country overnight, though they can’t be independently verified. Iran’s other media did not report on protests.
The United Nations Security Council held a meeting on Iran Friday that mostly featured criticism of the United States.
Russia’s U.N. ambassador, Vasily Nebenzia, said the U.S. move to call the meeting was a “bogus pretext” to include “purely political issues” surrounding Iran on the Security Council agenda and said that outside countries should not interfere with the demonstrations there.
Nebenzia went on to ask mockingly whether the Security Council should have had meetings to discuss internal U.S. issues such as protests in Ferguson, Mo., or the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Iranian U.N. Ambassador Gholamali Khoshroo echoed Nebenzia, saying “one can only gasp at the hypocrisy” of the U.S. accusing Iran of suppressing protests.